Afghanistan Troop Request Delivered - VOA News

The top U.S. military officer has received the eagerly awaited detailed troop request from the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, as the Obama administration continues a top-level review of its strategy.

A military official tells VOA the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, traveled to Germany Friday for an unannounced half-day meeting on a U.S. Air Base with the Afghanistan commander, General Stanley McChrystal.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, indicated Admiral Mullen had an idea what the request would be, but wanted to receive the official document in person and hear details directly from General McChrystal. The official could not say specifically how many troops the general wants.

Analysts have said the request could be in the range of 40,000 troops, on top of increases President Barack Obama authorized earlier in the year, which are moving the U.S. troop level to 68,000.

There has been tremendous interest in the impending request since General McChrystal's secret assessment of the Afghanistan situation was published Monday by The Washington Post. It paints a grim picture and says the allied mission could fail without more resources. The assessment has become part of a broad Afghanistan strategy review the president has ordered, involving senior civilian and military officials.

The Pentagon press secretary, Geoff Morrell, and that the general would present a range of options, discuss the risks associated with each, and conclude with a specific recommendation. But he said it will not become part of the strategy review.

"Once he has it, he intends to hold on to it until such time as the president and his national security team are ready to consider it," said the press secretary.

Morrell said there is "no sense in complicating" the strategic review by inserting the troop request.

For the full report click here for VOA News

Diplomatic Surge: Can Obama's Team Tame the Taliban? - Time

Admiral Mike Mullen is an odd one. He eschews the crisp, classic aura of command; he comes across as a no-drama, common-sense-dispensing country doctor from downstate Illinois (actually, he's the son of prominent show-biz publicists from Los Angeles).

But as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mullen is still the highest-ranking U.S. military officer, and so it was a bit disconcerting to see him taking flak from a group of Afghan farmers and international agricultural experts in Kabul the first week in April.

"The military is giving away free wheat seed to Afghan farmers, and that's undermining our efforts," said an expert whose USAID-supported program gave farmers vouchers to buy seeds, which was helping build a secondary market of seed- and farm-supply businesses.

Instead of taking umbrage, Mullen took notes. In fact, he seemed close to excited as ideas flew around the table. It was not the normal fare for an admiral, but agriculture — specifically, how to get Afghan farmers to plant something other than opium poppies — is a central issue in this very complicated war.

Mullen was thrilled to hear positive news about the relative merits of wheat and pomegranates, and the success of U.S. Army National Guard farmer-soldier teams, which were helping to plant and protect in remote Afghan districts. "There are possibilities here we couldn't imagine a year ago," the admiral said at the end of the meeting. "So please keep thinking about how we can do this. Let your minds run free." (See pictures of soldiers in Afghanistan.)

For the full article on the Time website click here